Teens Ask: “Is There a Cure for Addiction?”

We hear this query so much—for instance, it’s one of many questions teenagers usually ask at NIDA’s Chat Day throughout Nationwide Drug and Alcohol Info Week®. The quick reply is that, sadly, there isn’t a remedy for habit. 

However the longer reply is extra hopeful: There will not be a remedy, however there may be therapy.

So, how does therapy for habit work?

First, it helps to know some issues about habit. It’s a posh illness that may change how an individual’s brain functions in essential methods. Habit can occur at any age, however it normally begins when an individual is younger. 

The primary time an individual makes use of a drug, it’s sometimes their alternative. In the event that they maintain utilizing it, it could actually develop into troublesome to cease. Persevering with to make use of medication, though it is harming an individual’s life, is an indication of an habit.

Many types of treatment work for individuals with habit. No single therapy is correct for everyone; the truth is, therapy usually combines a couple of of those choices. They embrace: 

• Behavioral counseling. 
  • This may also help individuals change their attitudes and behaviors associated to drug use. For instance, they could have to discover ways to keep away from or deal with “triggers” that would cause them to use medication once more.
  • Behavioral counseling may also educate wholesome life expertise. If an individual has used medication to attempt to escape stress, for example, they could be taught more healthy methods to take care of stress.
• Drugs. 
  • Some medicines may also help the mind operate usually once more; they will additionally lower cravings for the drug that would result in relapse. At the moment, medicines can be found to deal with habit to opioids, nicotine, and alcohol. 
  • Drugs may also deal with “co-occurring” mental health conditions, like melancholy or anxiousness, that generally contribute to habit or lead individuals to attempt medication within the first place.

Another issues to know associated to therapy:

• Withdrawal signs. 
  • Many individuals don’t cease taking medication as a result of once they attempt, they’ve uncomfortable withdrawal signs. There are two choices that may assist:
    • The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) is permitting the sale of an electrical device that’s hooked up behind the ear. It stimulates nerves hooked up to the mind to supply aid from withdrawal signs. 
    • The FDA just lately accepted the drugs lofexidine to assist with uncomfortable signs of opioid withdrawal. 
• Lengthy-term follow-up to stop relapse.
  • Habit is a power (long-term) situation, so follow-up therapy is essential. It might embrace each medical and psychological well being companies. Remedy wants to deal with all of an individual’s wants, not simply their drug use. 

Should you suppose you could be hooked on medication, it’s essential to speak to a medical skilled about it. It could be top-of-the-line issues you might do to guard your physique, your thoughts, and your future.

NIDA has extra info on habit therapy: